The cult director Jeethu Joseph stepped into Malayalam film industry with this fantastic low – budget movie. Suresh Gopi plays double role in this movie – as a politician and as a detective.The story revolves around the murder of the “politician” Suresh Gopi’s wife.If you are yet to watch this movie,don’t waste time;watch it right now.The suspense is so freaking awesome that you would scream out of astonishment.

14)New Delhi (1987)

This movie took Mammootty to unbelievable heights of stardom.A well planned revenge story written by Dennis Joseph.The script shows how brilliantly a revenge could be planned.The movie is about a journalist-cartoonist played by Mammootty who gets falsely accused of fake charges.It is all about sadistic revenge.

13)Ee Thanutha Veluppan Kalathu (1990)

This mystery thriller written by the genius P.Padmarajan tells the story of a Police Superintendent and a spiritual leader.The plot is not that great but I loved the way the suspense is uncovered;something which I couldn’t even remotely think of.The movie is worth watching for Padmarajan’s writing and the twist in the end.

12)Pathram (1999)

Pathram means Newspaper and this movie talks about the politics and the inside stories of the newspaper world. Manju Warrier portrays a bold role showcasing her acting brilliance.N.F Varghese is an exceptional villain.The movie is famous for its kick ass dialogs written by Ranji Panicker.There is fire in every dialog of the movie especially in the dialogues of N. F. Varghese. When I watch this movie now,I realize what an amazing actor he was.

11)Kannur Deluxe (1969)

SIgh!If you feel that what you saw in Vidya Balan’s Kahaani is great,then you are mistaken.Four decades back,our very own Sheela had done it in style.Hardcore Malayalam movie lovers should not miss this piece of gem.The movie is available on YouTube.Have fun!

10)Oru CBI Diary Kurippu (1988)

The first in the series of four movies.The character, CBI investigator Sethurama Iyer, played by Mammootty became a cult and a big success.The background score by Shyam is still considered as a classic one.The movie is about the investigation of a murder of which had made it look like a suicide.Try watching the second one in the series which is Jagratha.I love its climax.

9)Yavanika (1982)

This movie is considered as a world-class mystery thriller of Malayalam.The millennials might find it slightly ordinary but I have heard from the previous generation that this movie was a blockbuster like a wildfire.The acting of Bharath Gopy is the main highlight.The story is about Gopy, a talented tabla player in a drama troupe, goes missing and how the mystery around it is revealed.

8)Oru Abhibhashakante Case Diary (1995)

A crime story with lots of drama but still a good watch.What I have always loved about crime thrillers is the way the suspense is unraveled.This movie is no different from the treatment of the traditional crime thrillers but the last five minutes is a treat.

7)The Truth (1998)

Somehow Mammootty has a special charm in doing characters in thriller movies.This movie is about the murder of the Kerala Chief Minister and the investigation around it.The movie is a one-man show from Mammootty. The last fifteen minutes of the movie will make you bite the nails. Mammootty’s mannerisms were great and yes,the dialogues too.

6)Shutter (2012)

My blood pressure went haywire while watching this movie.Such a simple but bold plot from the début venture of Joy Mathew.The movie has the name Shutter because it is about how one sees the world through a shutter.The plot is about a wealthy Gulf-returned man who gets locked inside a shop room with a prostitute for a night.The movie has lots of instances which shows the stark and raw intentions of people around us.Hats off to Sajitha Madathil for her remarkable performance as the prostitute.

5)Mumbai Police (2013)

There are times when we feel that Malayalam movies are far better than Hollywood movies in story and execution.Mumbai Police is one such movie. Prithviraj Sukumaran at his best.After Vasthavam,this is his second best performance.The story revolves around Assistant Commissioner of Police played by Prithviraj meeting with an accident and losing his memory right after finding the culprit of another case.The case was about the investigation of the murder of his friend and colleague who is also an ACP. Outstanding suspense and matchless acting from Prithviraj.

4)Munnariyippu (2014)

Munnariyippu will make you think in so many levels.Yes,it is not a movie which will spoon feed you every detail about the protagonist,instead once the movie is over you can think/discuss to find out them.The screenwriter Unni.R has sprinkled clues all over the movie and of course,he shows his class in his writing.The dialogues are fresh enough to make you ponder over them.People who have read his masterpiece Leela would know about his abilities to weave the heights of insanityy(sanity).Aparna Gopinath deserves an applause.
Director Venu shows the advantages of being a cinematographer that the frames are simple.Loved the climax shot;wondering how much thought process must have done to have such a vision.Last but not the least,Mammookka reminds us once more that he is one of the greatest actors we have.There is no introduction scene/BGM for him and there are very few dialogues for him in the movie.but,that one smile in the end makes the movie the best.

3)Drishyam (2013)

Let’s conveniently forget the plagiarism.Just watch the movie and you will never be disappointed.This movie will stay as one of the biggest hits in Malayalam.

2)Manichitrathazhu (1993)

Shobhana…Shobhana…Shobhana..Like the directors of the movie,even I wonder what this movie would be without her.Though the movie was remade into every other possible languages,it just increased the value of this movie.With a tinge of humor and drama,this horror movie is a classic one.This movie is at number two only because of its glitches in the script.But yes,we can watch this movie any day and still get shivers during the revelation scene of Shobhana.

1)Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha (2009)

Mammootty…Mammootty…Mammootty;yes,this movie portrays him in three different roles.The movie is based on a best-selling Malayalam novel of the same name by T. P. Rajeevan, which said the true story of the first recorded murder case in Kerala.The plot is about the mystery around the death of a young woman Manikyam.The story takes us into three generations of Kerala,the birth of communism and the accumulated power of the rich during pre-Independence era.I loved the bold script of and direction of Ranjith and the exceptional acting of Mammootty as Murikkum Kunnathu Ahmed Haji.

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Imagine you dancing salsa and the man leads you for a turn and a second turn and then he pulls you closer to him and allows you to fall into his arms.I feel falling in love is like falling into his arms.You do fall,but you fall gracefully into his arms.

Couple of days back,one of my friends told me about being on cloud nine after falling in love.

Oh yes,you do float on the clouds when being in love.Your cheeks go pink,you smile like a fool,you hop while walking,you put on weight,you suddenly become more beautiful,the nights are longer,the Sun shines brighter and the every song is romantic and what not,you even blush in your sleep.

Now to find the right person;it is any day a gamble.No matter how much you calculate or forecast,you can never know who is the perfect person for you.But,one tip from personal experience is that you can always make the person you find,the perfect one by loving that person more and more,by investing time and by accepting their imperfections.

There is another side to it which I have seen and something which I hate it.Forget about arranged marriage but arranged love???People look at wealth of the girl,the chances of the guy getting a job in US,complexion of the girl,height of the guy and then love them.Yuck!

Those people are missing the beauty of falling in love;they are missing that moment of skipping the heartbeat and they are missing that moment of lifetime.Also,love is incomplete without pain but all the pain in love is worth it.

Isn’t it so beautiful when you fall in love unplanned?

So this year, let the love be in air and fall gracefully while falling in love.

Happy Valentine’s Day <3

To my regular readers,

Thank you so much for writing to me and checking on me.Yes,I am writing little these days and it is because I am school girl now.But,yes,I will write as and when I can.

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Disclaimer : This post will not teach you how to take good photographs.

A week back I got a text from one of my kid brothers asking how I started photography.And,he was the fourth person to ask me the same.It was then I thought,why not write about my nine months experience in photography.

For everything,there is a starting point.I was surrounded with brilliant photographers but they were not my inspiration.Yes,I loved being in front of the camera and I had enough excuses not to click pictures — DSLR cameras are heavy,technicalities behind taking pictures are boring and if I click pictures,then who will click my pictures.Like everything,photography was also an accident.The first DSLR camera was a gift for my Husband but he was too busy to use it.Then considering that there is a camera at home and nobody is using it ,I thought why not try my hands on it.Like every other beginner,I started off with AF(Auto Focus) clicking furniture,vegetables and clouds.I was too lazy to learn the mechanisms of DSLR camera and for a month I shot pictures in the basic mode.It was then I went for a photo walk and learned that there is much effort behind every good photograph.But,then I wasn’t ready to learn.

There are plethora of photography pages on Facebook and there were few which I was following without any particular reasons.Then something strange happened that I started noticing the photographs very closely.Some photographers had shared the EXIF details and they looked Latin for me.By this time,I had already started a photography page in my name for flaunting the pictures I had clicked.It was then I realized that I don’t have any pictures to post on my Facebook page.That’s when I started to get out of the house to my neighborhood areas to shoot pictures.Then came the biggest difficulty — I didn’t know what to shoot.I had pictures of every flower,every cat and dog, and every road.Upon searching online,I saw photographs of my area and I couldn’t digest the fact that somebody else have clicked my locality so beautifully.Then it became a challenge and I started shooting the road in every possible angles and one picture came out well.That was a relief and a big break for me but I stopped clicking pictures from that day.

After few weeks,during a dinner party somebody brought up the topic of my photography page and appreciated me for starting one.I smiled and thanked him.But his wife,very naïvely,started asking me doubts such as what is a RAW image,why are photographers using a stand(tripod),how to take silky waterfalls etc.That was one embarrassing night because I had no clue what RAW image was or why people used tripod or what silky waterfalls were.Again,I was lazy to learn the photography jargon and I checked with some of my photographer friends.Most of what they told me went over my head but I understood one thing — I cannot click pictures without knowing the technical side of photography.Below are the steps which I followed to learn photography.

Step 1 : Of course,buy a DSLR camera

Invest in a good camera and lens.Like everybody,I also started with an 18 mm – 55 mm lens and then slowly started using 70 mm – 300 mm. There is a phase when you know that it is time to try a different lens.

Step 2 : Learn the technical side

There is a YouTube channel PhotographersonUTube which is run by photographer Jibran Aslam.His videos are very helpful for a beginner.He teaches you every minute technical detail in layman’s terms.I also follow the website http://digital-photography-school.com/ which tells you about a lot of projects.

Step 3 : Everything starts from home

I am very thankful to my family and friends for patiently posing for me. I have pestered my Husband more than enough to experiment different shots.My friends helped me in doing a jewelry shoot which was more of a learning process of “how to shoot portraits”;you can check the pictures here.

Step 4 : Mimic other’s work

Follow a lot of photography pages and try to mimic their works.A lot of photographers give the EXIF details so you have the settings ready and you just need to find the correct angle and light.I keep a journal about the settings which have worked for me on my camera during various occasions.

Step 5 : Travel a lot

These days,I make sure to look up on internet before visiting a place to know the existing photographs of the locality.Researching helps in getting some predetermined shots.Traveling to one place a month makes a big difference in both you and your photography.

Step 6 : Do Photo Projects

Once you start reading the above mentioned website,you will come across a lot of photo projects.Each project will help you in learning various techniques.My favorite project was “Shoot everything you can”.In this project,I was suppose to be in a room and then click everything that is in the room.This project helped in learning how aperture works and by the time I finished this project,I had good control over using manual mode.Above all,I learned how creatively you can click an ordinary object.

Step 7 : Keep clicking!

Don’t get discouraged by seeing your first 200 photographs.Patience is the key.Always take your camera along with you.I turned my camera into my new handbag.Poor camera,now takes rest among the cosmetics and comb.Get rid of the shyness to take out the camera in public.Of course,people might laugh at you but you will get used to it.Don’t ever stop taking pictures.

I hope this post will encourage a lot of people to take up photography.

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Of course,the video touched my heart deeply but it did bring back a timeline of events which taught me how to “really” say thank you.

The first lessons of saying thank you were from my parents. Every time somebody gifts me a chocolate,they would tell me “Say Thank You” and I would tell “Thank You”.I always thought it was a custom to tell Thank You when somebody gives us something.After a while,when my parents started making me hand over the gifts to people,I was told to say “You are welcome” once they tell me “Thank You”.Even telling “You are welcome” was a mechanical activity.During school days,though the entire class shouts “Thank You Madam/Sir” after every class,I am sure that neither me or my classmates were thankful about it.The chanting of Thank You was more about the happiness and relief which we got when the teachers left the class than the thankfulness for teaching us.But then,as we grow up,we do learn a lot of life lessons.During my teenage phase,telling somebody Thank You was about shedding the my ego.So I rarely thanked anyone.I felt so embarrassing when somebody thanked me. I would look down wondering what to reply them.I used to feel very awkward by hearing the word Thank You.So I would show a fake smile and run away from the situation.I didn’t know how to handle such situations.

Things changed when I started my college.First time away from home,new place,new language,new people and new food.Altogether I was in a messed up state.But,luckily I got a friend,Chittu, on the second day of the college.We talked for hours in a stretch and became friends in no time.Chittu and I became the relief sources for each other.My roommate and I were struggling to get along well and Chittu and her roommate were on the same phase too.Interestingly,my roommate and Chittu’s roommate became buddies.In a week,Chittu had reached the saturation point of her frustrations.Wardens were strict about the rules as they claimed that in first year, students from same state should not be roommates.Yes,Chittu is from Kerala.Chittu was infamous for her punctuality.She was always the last one to reach the class.As we both go to the class together,I will also end up reaching the class late.Daily,for 8.30 AM class,we will be the last ones to run from the mess.Then one day,we were royally late to the class;so we skipped our breakfast and ran to the class.To make the worse worst,she slipped and fell down on the steps of the hostel.And the shameless we are,we smiled each other and went to mess to have breakfast.We were happy to skip the first hour of class and leisurely walked to the class.By end of the day,back pain started for her.The second week of our college had just started and nobody knew each other well.But,we still managed to borrow an electric kettle and an Iodex cream.My roommate was happy to temporarily move to Chittu’s room for few days.After three days,Chittu and I reluctantly talked with the warden and to our surprise she agreed to the idea of Chittu moving in with me and we kicking out my roommate to Chittu’s room.After talking to the warden,I was just simply standing at the door of my room.I don’t know what happened in next five minutes.Looks like Chittu had all her suitcases packed and ready.She just ran across the corridor twice or thrice and there she is,shifted to my room.Both of us laughed like crazy people and she hugged me so tight and said Thank You.That was the first time I felt the real meaning of Thank You.The Thank You she said had all the happiness and relief which she had felt then.That was a very genuine Thank You.One Thank You made me feel so special and that was the beginning of a very beautiful friendship.Thus I started thanking people very sincerely.I made it a habit to look into the other person’s eyes and thanking them with a smile.Some people respond,some just stare at me and some others show their happiness.

Trust me,this habit has made both my life and smile more beautiful.And,this is a Thank You note for Chittu which was long overdue.

So,next time don’t hesitate to thank someone.A Thank You can make wonders in life.

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Disclaimer : The post deals with Malayalam cinema because I don’t have enough knowledge to extend the details of this post to the movies of other languages. But, considering that we live in India, I am sure that most of what told in the post could be generalized.

Lessons for Women

1) Women should not shout

It is a common and indispensable dialog in a Malayalam movie. If ever a woman shouts, then the next dialog will be a man shouting back at her reminding her that a woman should not shout. I think this dialog comes automatically from a scriptwriter’s pen. Also, a woman’s voice touching the roof of the house or coming out through the bedroom wall will collapse the house.

2) Girls should be courteous, coy, pleasant, well dressed, well-mannered, and presentable and she should know cooking

Most of the movies will have a five to ten minutes session for advising a girl to be a “girl”. This is the part where the hero gets to talk on and on about his knowledge about perfect women. The situation in the movie will be as follows. The girl will be smart, talkative and independent. She likes to wear western attires and the clothes suit her well too. There will be a positive vibes of happiness around her. She drives a car. She eats food cooked by her Mother or maid. What on Earth is wrong in that? But, then there comes the hero. He tells her that girls should be coy and demure. Girls should not talk much. Girls should wear a saree. Girls should know cooking. A girl allowing the man to drive is feminine. He would shame her either in front of her family or in front of her friends. But neither her family nor her friends would stop the hero from puking the advices. Instead, they would stand like statues. Then with a heavy heroic background score the hero will leave the scene. And the transformation happens. There she is, our heroine, standing in a saree with her neck drooped and cheeks blushed. She fell in love with the hero.

What the !!!

3) Life is lost, nothing is lost, but chastity is lost, then everything is lost

When I hear some dialogues, I feel that the world is balanced on a girl’s chastity. A man going to jail by killing someone is still a matter of pride but a woman losing her chastity is the biggest sin. In Malayalam cinema, there are only two solutions for this problem. One; the girl’s family, at times the neighbourhood will also join the family, begs the molester/rapist to marry her to wash off the bad name on the family. The girl’s father would fall on the molester’s feet, the girl’s mother would beg and finally the wedding happens and they live happily ever after. A song will be shown to portray the transformation of the molester and then the girl’s gets pregnant and delivers a baby boy and all is well. Two; the girl kills herself and all the shame and crack in the family honour are restored in minutes.

4) No matter what goes wrong, it is always a girl’s mistake

This dialog is reserved for the girl’s Mother. And yes, Mothers are always right. If a man stalks her, it is her mistake. If a man gropes her, it is her mistake. If a man rapes her, it is her mistake. If a man gives her a love letter ,it is again a girl’s mistake. If the family business dooms, then it a girl’s (daughter – in – law) mistake. No matter what shit happens, end of the day, it is always a girl’s mistake. Why did you allow him to stalk you? Why did you allow him to touch you? Why did you walk through that route so that he felt like raping you? You must have definitely done something to attract/provoke him.

Holy shit!

5) The best way to shame a girl is by talking nonsense about her morale and conduct

Any woman could be silenced by talking nonsense about her morale and conduct. The misconduct could include travelling alone, talking with boys, going out with men, drinking/smoking habits, going to clubs, going for western form of dances(traditional dance forms make a girl divine),failed relationships or marriage, not obeying her husband or parents, and wearing clothes which are not in the list of clothes allowed for a Malayali girl. Between every two lines, the hero or any other male character would boast a lot about the culture of Kerala and if the scriptwriter include point no.2 also, then this scene will be received by thunderous applause.

6) Nirvana of a woman’s life

This scene comes when a girl refuses to get married. Either her Mother or Aunt gets this piece of dialog. The scenes teach us the importance of getting married and staying married. The dialogues are gems of life changing information that they explains how important it is to have a man in a woman’s life, and how important it is for a woman to be accepted by the in-laws. And a woman’s life is completed only when she suffers the pain of delivering a baby, preferably a baby boy so that she has somebody to take care of her once the Husband dies.

7) Education is shit!

Girl: “Enikku padikkanam” (I want to study)

Girl’s parents: Pinne,padichittu collector aakan povalle. (Oh, as if you study and become a Collector)

These two dialogues are one of the most clichéd dialogues. Any time, if the girl refuses to get married and tells the parents that she wants to study, then the parents will shun by teasing her.

Some other dialogues related to education of a girl are

Pennkuttikal padichittendha oru kaaryam,veruthe kaashu kalayan.Aa kaashu kondu avale kettikkan nokku (What’s the point in a girl studying? Waste of money. Instead spend that cash and get her married off)

Veruthe padippichittu pennine vazhi thettikkano? (Why do you want to educate her and spoil her conduct?)

Valiya degree undayittonnum oru kaaryamilla,vallathum vechu undakkan ariyanam (Having a degree is not a big deal. You should know how to cook well)

8) A girl is the light of the house

This is the safest way to make a girl obey the rules of patriarchy without making her feel that her life is restricted within an invisible boundary. The society and the movies glorify this fact so much that this is imprinted in people’s mind. They proclaim that girl is everything for a family and then impose rules on her to fulfil the mandatory conditions to be the light, mop and mixie of the family.

9)A girl falling in love

Though recently there has been a change in real life in the way the family reacts when they find out that the girl is in love, the cinema industry is still stuck with the chaos mode. The Father will blame the Mother for not making the daughter understand the value of culture and the family pride. The Mother in turn curses the daughter and blackmails her by holding kerosene can ready to pour on her. If she falls in love with somebody of a same caste, then the chaos level is normal. If she falls in love with somebody out of her caste, then the chaos level is at its maximum with a ten fifteen minutes scene of explaining her the family’s tradition, pride and name or about the hardships which the parents had to undergo to bring the kids up. If the girl falls in love with somebody of other religion, then the chaos cannot be measured. The Father would declare either to kill the daughter or go to jail (yes, killing daughter and going to jail is an awesome act) or to suicide together as a family.

10) A family which has to survive on a woman’s earnings is shame for the predecessors

This dialog is slightly out of fashion now but the grandparents who are heading the family cannot sleep without delivering this dialog whenever the women in the family wants to go out for work.

Lessons for Men

1)Slapping a woman is a man’s birthright

In Malayalam movies, slapping a woman is considered as the most matured act of a man. Husband slaps wife, brother slaps sister/s, and strange man slaps strange woman. In short, slapping is considered as the best medicine a man can give a woman to shut herself. An argument goes on and instead of the third dialog, the man slaps woman and there will be roars in the theatre. Women in the theatre shamelessly nod for this telling it was the heroine’s fault and getting one or two slaps will only make her a better woman.”Onnu koodi pottikeda avale”(slap her once more) is a common dialog which male audience shouts and most of the times, the man on-screen slaps her once more as if he has heard the audience. See, the scriptwriter knows the audience well.

2) Love a girl? Stalk her,dude!

I don’t have any hopes about this trend dying soon. Some writers are even more brilliant. At times, raping her makes her fall in love. The hero whistles, tries to hold her hands or hair, follows her everywhere, intrudes her privacy and then voilà, she falls in love. The much appreciated Annayum Rasoolum was an epitome of stalking .A stranger following you daily at night till your doorstep is creepy and not romance.

3) One of the duties of a man is to protect family’s honour

The man will never allow anybody to spoil the honour of the family. So the best way to restore the family pride is either by kicking the girl out of the house or by killing her. If the family is powerful, then they can kill the man with whom she is in love and then force her to marry somebody else.

4) He is the decision-man

He decides and he orders. He decides what the Mother should do, what the wife should wear, what the son should study, whom the daughter should marry etc. The family which runs on a man’s command is a good family and a family which runs on a woman’s command is a bad family. It is an itching for the screenwriter if he doesn’t portray the family ran by a woman as a bad one and then an angelical man would enter into their lives and advises the woman head of the family to step down. He takes up the place as head of the family and all is well. The End!

5) Rules for men

A man should know how tame a woman and make her obey him.”Pennine varacha varayil nirthuka”(making the woman obey the man without protest) is a classic art and a man who learns it is THE MAN. Obeying wife or Mother(or any other woman) is considered as degrading the manliness. Other men would advise like “poyi chathoodada”(Cant you go and die?) if they come to know that their friend listens to his wife/Mother.

6) The sign of machismo

Womanizing by getting bored of sleeping with his wife is a sign of machismo but if a woman strays then she is a whore. The hero would list out why he is bored with his wife and then nobody asks a question. Should I explain what happens if a woman sleeps with somebody else?

7) Mistakes made by men are never mistakes

Men make mistakes but every mistake made by them is pardonable even if they kill somebody because they will always have a valid reason. The scriptwriter will make sure that the man(especially the hero) has enough reasons to support him for his actions; even if he rapes a woman. In that case, the man will sob saying I lost my control, it was a mistake—Do you think I will ever do such an act when I am sober?

Bloody hell!

8) Want to take revenge?

A man has the power to spoil a girl and the girl’s family. So if you want to make another man obey you, the best way is to threaten them to rape the women in the family. Why using your brain when all you need is to open the zip? Seriously, when we watch certain movies, the plot tells it without any shame. This is considered as the easiest way to threaten or take revenge.

9) The freedom to fall in love

A man has complete freedom to fall in love with whomever he wants. Why is it so? A man has the freedom to tell about his openly but a woman telling her love is a risk. Not just in movies, even in real life, people around her would tell her not tell anybody because it will reduce her chances for “good” proposals.

I doubt whether there is any movie which tells the man not to fall in love. Why is it so?

10) Man is always right…

…even if the woman counterpart is more intelligent, more educated, smarter and more talented than him. Period.

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I’m lazy.I have been always lazy.Last year,this time,when the A to Z challenge was happening,I happily sat back and read others’ posts.Remember,during our childhood we feel an urge to try things what our friends(enemies) do.Last year,towards the end of the challenge period,I too felt like writing about things from A to Z.But,laziness is inborn,so writing twenty six posts and publishing them were a grueling task.So I made my thoughts concise and stuffed everything into one post;you can read the post here.

2014 is an awesome year for me.So I thought,why don’t I disown laziness and mood swings and then write twenty-six posts.So this year,the theme for my A to Z challenge is about men:short stories about men whom I have met,seen,known,heard,liked,disliked,loved and hated.No! this series is not about the men I fell in love with or about men who fell for me.Yes! you can find few love stories and also regular readers might see a couple of repeated posts but short stories will be mostly about so many other flavors of life.

Don’t panic.I will not be using the real names of the people.

So,watch out for the series in the coming days.Who knows may be it is your story.

“She must be tired from the trip. Let her come for the second hour. It is Malathi’s class. She will not let us in if we are a minute late. Come… Come…” Anu dragged Vidya.

Vidya again banged on Diya’s door during lunch break. Vidya stood in front of the door and tried calling Diya’s phone.

“Vidya, what happened to Diya? Is she too tired from the trip that she can’t even come for the class?”, Shalini laughed loud.

“Listen, I know it was you who spread the news about her trip.”

“Of course, it was me. Tell me one reason for not doing it.”

“Past is past.”

“Then what I had told about her is past too.”

“Diya, just open the door!”, Vidya yelled at the closed-door and banged on it.

Students flocked and they asked Vidya so many questions. Vidya gave up and told everyone that Diya is sick.

During the class, Vidya told her concerns to Anu. Diya’s phone is switched off; her parents have already called Vidya thrice; nobody has seen her after trip.

“Don’t worry; this is not her first time. Or on a happy note, may be they must have made out too many times that she is tired.”

“But still, can’t she at least open the door?”

“We will do one thing. Let’s bunk the next class and then go to her room.”

“OK. Let’s do that.”

When they reached Diya’s room, it was latched from outside.

“She must have gone to the toilet.”

“Let’s sit inside the room.”

They waited for an hour chatting each other.

“Diya’s guts! appreciated.”

“I don’t feel that she has done anything great.”

“But, again how did she make it? Aren’t her parents very pestering and strict?”

“Sigh! She told her parents that she is going to Kodaikkanal for the class trip and then went to Ooty with Deepak.”

“Whoa! She has brains to handle her parents. But still, I would have shivered to death for going on such a date. That’s why Ramesh and I date only inside the campus and I chose him over Naresh because Ramesh and I are from the same caste. I can’t handle complications. It is very difficult to sleep with one guy and then marry another one. I kinda feel disgusting.”

And Diya came holding her bucket in one hand and toiletries in another hand. She looked terribly tired. Eyes looked droopy and face looked pale.

Vidya and Anu sat straight eagerly waiting to hear the stories.”Diyaaaa”, they called teasingly.

She didn’t look at them but stood next to door opening it wide. Vidya looked at Anu and then looked at Diya.She was still standing there holding the opened door.

Shalini was sitting in the mess and Vidya purposely avoided looking at her.

“How is Diya? Her phone is switched off.” A text message flashed in Vidya’s mobile phone. It was from Deepak. She immediately called him but he didn’t pick up the call.”*******”, Vidya told herself.

Then Anu came running to mess and dragged Vidya out.

“Looks like there is some problem.”

“What?”

“Ramesh told me that there is a rumor that Deepak was just idling time with Diya.He is not serious.”

“Oh that, even I knew. I don’t think even Diya is serious about the relationship.”

“Then who cares. Let them **** how much ever they want. I was worried that Diya was cheated.”

“No, Anu. She isn’t that kind of person. She knows well that any guy would fall for her charm. So if not Deepak, then somebody else.”

“I seriously want to know the art of being a *****.Guys come and go just like this in her life. Phew!”

“LOL!!”

Four days passed and nobody saw Diya in the class. For two days Vidya and Anu checked on her before going to class but then they got busier for the cycle tests.

During the first test,Diya came to class.She looked terrible.She had dark circles.Her hair was messy.Her lips were dry.The entire exam hall looked at her but she walked slowly to her seat.After ten minutes,Diya walked out of the exam hall.Anu leaned and looked at Vidya and she looked equally clueless.

Vidya and Anu ran behind Deepak after the test.

“Hey,listen,is there any problem between you both?”,Anu asked in stern voice.

“No.What problems?”,Deepak asked innocently.

Deepak joined his friends, laughed over some boys joke and cycled away.

Vidya slightly pushed the door and it opened. Diya was lying down on her bed. Anu also got inside the room and closed it from inside.

“Diya, wake up.”

Diya got up and hugged Vidya tightly. She screamed blue murder.

“What happened?”Anu whispered.

Diya cried. She cried uncontrollably. In two minutes, there was a pool of tears on her.

“Did you see Deepak?”

“Yes, we met him after the test. He looked normal. What happened to you?”

“He has a girlfriend in Delhi.A relationship approved by their parents.”

“WHAT?!!??”,both Anu and Vidya exclaimed.

“Yes,she had called me few days back.She shouted at top of her voice.I didn’t know what to reply.”

“What did Deepak say?”

“He told me that going to Ooty was my idea.Now the blame is on me.”

“Huh!”

“Actually,why did you go with him?Anyway you were not serious and he was also not serious.”

“Who the hell told you that I was not serious?”

“So you were serious? Oh my God!”

“Of course I was serious. Otherwise why would I weave such a big story and tell my parents?”

“So, what is next?”

“I don’t know.”

“Coming for lunch?”

“No!”

Anu and Vidya walked over to the mess and Anu said, ”What goes around comes around. This is the punishment for snatching Shalini’s boyfriend last year.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”, Vidya joked,” punishment it seems.”

Days passed and the cycle tests were over. The weekend came. Diya and Anu had gone home. Vidya was bored watching movies and sleeping over books. She went to the mess for evening tea. The mess was deserted, so she stretched her legs and kept it on the chair on the other side of the table. She enjoyed the hot elachi tea and went for one more cup.

“Is Diya going out with Ashish?”

Vidya looked back to see who it is. She smiled at Shalini.

“No. I mean I don’t know; I don’t think so.”

“Hmm”

“By the way,which Ashish?”

“Ashish — Deepak’s roommate; Rakhi’s boyfriend.”

“Oh!”

“I saw Ashish and Diya in the railway station on Friday night when I went to see off my friends.”

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He rolled over to the other side and snored.Priya patted him on his bum and got out of the bed.She yawned and tied her robe’s ribbon.When she opened the door,Akka stood there with a bag half-filled with vegetables. Akka’s forehead showed the daily frustration of waiting in front of the door.

“How many times have I told you to give me a spare key?“,Akka murmured and went to the kitchen.The noises of vessels falling into the sink released her irritation.

Priya went back to the bed and crawled inside the quilt.She hugged Saahil from behind and bit his left earlobe. Saahil chuckled and rolled on top of her. Priya laughed and Saahil passionately kissed her.

After driving for a while,Priya stopped the car and breathed heavily.She opened the door and puked on the road.She searched for the bottle and gulped lots of water;but,again puked.She closed the door and turned on the air conditioner.She turned the blower on to her face and swallowed air.

5.30 AM.The alarm rang. Riya woke Priya up and went to the toilet.

“Riya! Did Priya wake up?“,Mom asked from the kitchen.

Priya dragged herself from the bed and leaned on the toilet door.

“I don’t want to go to school today.“

“As if I want to go.”

“It is because of our school bus.The class starts at 8.45 AM and for that we need to start from here at 5.30 AM.“

“What to do?“

“Why can’t you tell parents to send us in public bus?Then we need to start from home only at 8.15 AM.“

“We are too small.“

“You?Small?Aren’t you in 6th standard?“

“But,Parents will not agree.And,yeah at least today please don’t puke.“

“What will I do?They smoke up the bus with foul-smelling agarbathis and I feel suffocated.”

“Today also cabbage“,Riya opened the steel lid and smirked at Priya.

“Amma!”,Priya shouted.

“I know but what can we do.There is no money.I will tell Dad to buy something else tonight.Few more months — once our new house is built then Dad will have money with him.“

“Amma,you don’t know anything.Rice and cabbage for breakfast,rice and cabbage for lunch and rice and cabbage for dinner.Do you know,I vomit daily in the bus?“

“Ayyo,what happened Priya?” “Riya,is it true?”

Riya said nothing and continued eating.

“Yes,Amma.I am telling the truth.I feel suffocated inside the school bus.The agarbathis smell churn my stomach.This cabbage never digests for me and I puke until I reach school.Two days back when I puked,rice and cabbage came out and boys made fun of me telling that I eat rice for breakfast.Friends always tease me saying Amma knows to cook only rice and cabbage.“

Amma said nothing.That day,an hour after getting inside the school bus,when Priya burped,smell of cabbage prevailed in the air surrounding her.And she knew,it is time to run to the door.The bus driver braked upon seeing her next to his seat.She ran to the nearby bushes and puked her soul out. Riya sat in her seat without acknowledging the happenings.

“Can’t you tell your parents to buy some medicine to stop vomiting?“,driver showed all his disliking in his voice.

“Are you pregnant?“,asked Vijay and his boys gang.There was a big laughter when Priya walked back to her seat.The taste of undigested half-cooked cabbage lingered inside her mouth for the entire day.

“Madam,ID card?“

Priya flashed her ID card through the car window and drove off to the parking lot.That day when she opened one of her lunch boxes,she saw fried,yellow colored shredded cabbage.She smelled it once and then ran to washroom.

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Few weeks back while driving in Calicut,something pricked me when I passed the Sarovaram Bio Park.It is situated at the Mini Bypass Road — on the way to Arayadathu Palam from Eranjipalam Junction.Two decades back,the plot where the bio park stays now was an exhibition ground.Weekend plans were either to roam in the S.M.Street or to go for an exhibition.The latter occurred only once or twice in a year — during the Christmas week and during summer vacation.So the demand was higher.A lot of vendors,circus groups and performers camped for a week or ten days.There will be everything from safety pins to furniture. Some families came with big-shoppers and filled their bags full.In school,we pinched each other and howled “same pinch” upon seeing same colored fancy pens/pencils in the hands of classmates.School boys calculatedly spent 12-hours at the exhibition to meet their crush(es).School girls went with their parents in the hope that they might see their guy.Love birds used the opportunity well.Parents shopped as much as they could.

In Calicut,the first mall came into existence in 2007.Focus Mall.People rushed into it as if the world will end the next day.Some people even told that Focus Mall was a realistic version of Orkut. We met our long-lost classmates,forgotten teachers,purposely avoided relatives and nosy family friends.Some people went to Focus Mall daily.Some others traveled from other end of the city to visit the mall.Shopping from Focus Mall became a matter of pride.A lot of people shopped only from the mall despite the frustrating crowd and the unnecessary waiting in the queues.People of nearby districts and places made one-day trip to Calicut to visit the mall.Taking guests to the mall was a proud moment.We boasted to every Manu,Binu and Vinu that the biggest mall in Kerala is in Calicut.But,the initial rage disappeared like whiffs of smoke in the air.People were bored with seeing people whom they know every time they go to the mall.People became bored with the crowd.And the rage slowly died.When newer malls came,people stopped going to Focus Mall.Last time when I visited the Focus Mall,there were hardly any crowd despite being a Saturday evening.

I truly wish those exhibitions and fairs at the temples were back.I miss the fun in riding on the giant wheel,I miss eating cotton candy and I miss those waiting-days.Or are these the symptoms of growing old?No matter what,those days were indeed golden.

"Enlightenment of Consciousness” My cerebration and perspective of the humanly surroundings that i belong to. Everything posted here are my personal thought processes without any confinements to artificial demarcations and absolute reference to the people and situations around me.

Audi Alteram Partem is Latin for Hear The Other Side.....This blog is an anttempt to provide an alternate view, a balanced view rather than the conventional or popular view. As such it requires tolerance and broad-mindedness to read this blog. Decide for yourself.

Each time that I strive for answers, the changing colors of the sea tell me that I am not alone in my dubiety! That I too like the sea, am a creation of leisure that has always been interpreted in haste!